Susannah Lawergren, soprano
Bernadette Harvey,
piano
Art Song Canberra
Wesley Music Centre,
Forrest 15 October
Reviewed by Len Power
An intriguing title for this Art Song Canberra concert promised forest inspired works and others of natural beauty by Mozart, Haydn, Grieg, Debussy and Lili Boulanger from Europe as well as works by the Australian composers, Ross Edwards and Katy Abbott.
Soprano, Susannah Lawergren, and pianist, Bernadette Harvey, presented a well-balanced program of songs and music with relaxed, amusing and informative commentaries about the works.
Susannah Lawergren has developed a reputation for her versatility and has sung with some of the foremost ensembles, composers and festivals in Australia.
An acclaimed international performer and teacher, pianist, Bernadette Harvey, was awarded the Centenary Medal in 2000 for her contribution to Australian Music. She performs regularly with Musica Viva in Australia.
The program commenced with four songs by Mozart – “The Violet”. “Evening Thought”, “In A Lonely Forest” and “May A Happy Calm Rise”. Lawergren sang each of them with great sensitivity, setting the atmosphere beautifully and moving easily between the differing emotions that the songs evoked.
Bernadette Harvey then performed Haydn’s “Andante with Variations in F Minor”, a solo piano work that was both reflective and joyful and added to the atmosphere of this celebration of nature. It was beautifully and colourfully played.
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| Bernadette Harvey and Susannah Lawergren |
Four songs by Grieg followed. The highlights of this set included “One Day, My Mind” with its sombre mood finely sung with restrained emotion by Lawergren and “The Secretive Nightingale”, which she sang with great delicacy and feeling.
The songs presented in the second half of the program included works by Lili Boulanger and Claude Debussy that were very well sung. Australian composer, Ross Edwards, was featured with “Christina’s Lullaby”, a haunting song given a heart-felt performance by Lawergren and “Emily’s Song”, a solo, lilting piano work performed superbly by Harvey.
Two quirky modern works by the Australian composer, Katy Abbott, “On The Surface Of Things” and “Indoor Yachting”, were a delightful change of pace, sung with beauty and sly humour by Lawergren.
The final set of works was by Ross Edwards. It included a solo piano work, “Frangipani” and its fine melodies were given a nicely reflective performance by Harvey. “The Forest”, a challenging work, hauntingly sung and full of atmosphere, was the highlight of this group of songs.
Ross Edwards’ “Gadigal Bird Chant”, sung by Lawergren, was a work that evoked the sounds of birds in the Dharug language and it was the perfect ending to this fine, atmospheric concert.
Photo by Len Power
This review was first published by Canberra CityNews digital edition on 16 October 2023.
Len Power's reviews are also broadcast on Artsound FM 92.7 in the ‘Arts Cafe’ and ‘Arts About’ programs and published in his blog 'Just Power Writing' at https://justpowerwriting.blogspot.com/.